Charity begins at home

More events are planned, as villagers celebrate their unique and historic home. At some point, no doubt, a toast will be drunk (in orange juice, perhaps, to acknowledge the village's "dry" status) to its founder: Joseph Rowntree.

New Earswick owes its existence to the practical Quakerism of the chocolate factory boss. His son, Seebohm, had done more than anyone to expose the wretched living conditions of the poor in his 1901 treatise on the slums of York.

Joseph himself presided over an adult school in York, where he met with men who lived with their families in cramped, unsanitary homes, existing on less than £1 a week.

Determined to do something about it, he was inspired by Ebenezer Howard who, in 1898, put forward his own solution: garden cities. George Cadbury had followed some of Howard's ideas when he created Bournville, near Birmingham.

In 1901, Joseph paid £6,000 for a 150-acre estate at Earswick, three miles north of York city centre, next to land already owned by the Rowntree Company.

Seebohm was in charge of the planning and design of the Rowntree model village, although Joseph presided over the Village Trust, established in 1904 to oversee New Earswick's development, until his death in 1925.

The trust deed described its object as "the improvement of the condition of the working classes... by the provision of improved dwellings with open spaces and where possible gardens".

"The essence of the experiment," a 1913 pamphlet on New Earswick explained, "is the provision of houses which, while being well built, convenient, healthy and artistic in design, and having gardens, shall still be let at rentals within the means of the class of workers named above."

The first homes were built in 1902, at about 11 houses per acre, and let at five to eight shillings per week.

Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker were brought in as architects. They designed Britain's first garden city, Letchworth.

And design was very important in the creation of New Earswick. Although houses were to vary in style, every living room had to face south, so as to get maximum benefit from sunshine.

Homes had to have a good oven, fitted cupboards, a larder, a copper "fitted with a steam exhaust, which prevents the steam from penetrating into the rooms on washing days"; a bath, at least three bedrooms, a garden, and gas and water supplies.

Gardens were about 350 square yards, "the size which the experience of the trustees has shown that a man can properly cultivate by spade labour in his leisure time". Each garden was endowed with two fruit trees.

Before the First World War, the cost of building a three-bedroom house, including land, was between £250 and £400.

Despite the charitable demeanour of its founder, New Earswick was never a charity. Indeed, the intention was quite the opposite: Joseph Rowntree wanted his model village to inspire similar schemes across Britain. Therefore a reasonable return on capital was vital; "if this can be achieved it is probable that we shall have many imitators," Joseph wrote, "but if, on the other hand, the experiment is commercially a failure, the number of imitators will be few".

Also central to his vision was that New Earswick became a vibrant community rather than just a nice place to live. So neighbourhood facilities had also to be created.

There was to be no pub, of course. Joseph Rowntree was an acknowledged authority on the evils of the drink trade.

But a community centre was crucial, and this need was met in November 1906, when the building which became known as the Folk Hall was completed.

The Village Council, set up to run village affairs, agreed to expand the hall in 1935. This was largely prompted by the success of the Dramatic and Operatic Society, founded in 1933, whose productions of Gilbert and Sullivan were simply too big for the existing Folk Hall.

In its early days, the Folk Hall also hosted school classes for younger children. By 1912, a primary school had been built. Once again, its design was unusual. The distinctive feature of the "open air" school was the construction of the windows: folding them back in summer allowed a clear opening to the south, the low sills allowed children a view over the garden.

The policy of the school was, thanks to Joseph Rowntree again, forward-looking. He hoped girls would have equal opportunities to boys and that education should continue to the age of 15.

The trustees deemed that no teacher was to be in charge of a class of more than 30 children, half the size of the York average, and appointed additional teachers.

In today's cosseted world, when most of us live in well-appointed homes with running water and proper heating, New Earswick's remarkable modernity is easily forgotten. But Joe Murphy captured the early sense of wonderment at the garden village in his 1987 book New Earswick: a pictorial history.

He recorded the memories of some of the first villagers. One family came from Kitchener Street in York to New Earswick in 1905: "When my father saw these gardens, it was just what he wanted; he had a long garden which went down to the river to grow his sweet peas and roses, so he was made up from then on."

Another recalled early schooldays: "The Folk Hall was our first school, two teachers Miss Pritchard and Miss Ashford.

"I remember we had to go without shoes or stockings sometimes to strengthen our feet, and our mothers weren't too pleased, especially when it was cold weather, but we had a lovely fire in the inglenook in the small hall, where the door to the lounge now is, and our own grey blankets to rest on in the afternoon."

And one resident made it sound just like the idyllic community Joseph Rowntree always envisaged. "When they held a gala at Bootham Park we used to go down to the brickyard to see the fireworks; we all used to climb on top of these piles of bricks with Mr Charlton's permission and build our own little seats there.

"The highlight was the finish, the Prince of Wales feathers followed by the captive balloon, and then it was back home to gooseberry pie and new potatoes in June."

- The Joseph Rowntree Foundation librarian Elizabeth Jackson, whose assistance for this feature has been invaluable, is after your help.

Ouse Lea House was a rambling mansion on Shipton Road, York, owned at one time by Joseph Rowntree. His daughter Agnes lived there until the 1960s, when it was pulled down to make way for the Ouse Lea flats.

The Rowntree archive has no picture of Ouse Lea House. Have you? If so, Elizabeth would dearly like to hear from you on (01904) 629241.

Updated: 10:51 Monday, March 04, 2002